A running account of the Augusta area’s basketball and football scene. This is the blog. Go to @AugBball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for live coverage.
I only watched 1 quarter of Richmond’s 65-49 home win over Grovetown. But I was very impressed with the Musketeers. The team has good inside players and guards who can shoot and score and who want to throw the ball inside to the bigs. And I don’t think any of tonight’s starters were seniors. Coach Steve Nobles always does a good job.
Grovetown Lady Warriors 51, Richmond 34
Grovetown improved to 2-0. Ayana Collins - 13, Marissa Tate 11 (3 threes), Savannah Giles 8
Richmond's Jakiyah Parker led all scorers with 16.
Augusta Christian 72, Alleluia 47
Nate Dunlop (Augusta Christian) - 23 points
Ben Freed (Alleluia) - 33 points
Glenn Hills 65, Harrison 61
Several people approached me in the gym to tell me I was wrong for only ranking Glenn Hills #6 in my preseason ranking. Tuesday's result may be seen as a sign they were right and I was wrong. But time and results will tell for sure.
Benedict freshman Jelani Watson-Gayle (Westminster ‘17) scored 21 points in a 105-71 win over Carver. Watson-Gayle has scored 58 points in the team’s first 3 games. Benedict (3-0) will host Augusta next Tuesday and I’ll report live from the scene.
Carver's Malique Gibbons (Thomson '14) scored 19 points in the loss.
Thank you Ron Freeman for the film and the updates!
Follow @AugBball on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for live highlights and updates from the AugBball Game of the Day!
Georgia Southern 77, CSU Bakersfield 53
Georgia Southern creamed CSU Bakersfield 77-53 in the first home game of the season for the Eagles, who improved to 2-0 after an 85-83 win at Wake Forest Friday. Tookie Brown (Morgan County '15) posted nearly flawless shooting Numbers, making 7 of 8 field goals and 9 of 10 free throws. Fellow preseason All Sun Belt Conference first team pick Ike Smith added 21 points on 4-7 three point shooting.
South Carolina 70, Western Michigan 60
Hassani Gravett scored 15 points and Frank Booker (Westside '13) added 14 as the Gamecocks improved to 2-0 Monday on the night when last season's Final Four banner was hung at Colonial Life Arena. Booker made 5 of 8 field goals and 3 of 6 from deep to follow up a 12 point (3-5 3 pt FG) performance in Friday's win at Wofford.
Clayton State 106, Carver 78 (Exhibition)
Denzel Council, a senior transfer from Armstrong State, scored 25 points to lead the Lakers to a convincing exhibition game win at home. Aubrey McRae (Glenn Hills '14), who transferred from Georgia Southern, added 19 points on 4-7 3 point shooting. And Jaylen Taylor (Laney '15) added 12.
Wednesday Clayton State opens its regular season at Queens (2-0), which was ranked as high as #2 in Division II by at least one preseason poll.
Area players:
- Clayton State’s Aubrey Mcrae (Glenn Hills ‘14), Jaylen Taylor (Laney ‘15) and Moses Williams (Richmond ‘17)
- Carver’s Malique Gibbons and Marquel Gibbons (Thomson ‘14 and ‘16)
Live stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/clayton/mbball/
Video - https://youtu.be/fPN9bVm_yNY
Area player: South Carolina’s Frank Booker (Westside ‘13)
The Gamecocks will hang their 2017 Final Four banner before this home opener. Booker scored 12 points Friday in the Gamecocks’ opening night win at Wofford:
Before we move into a new week, I want to recognize the play this weekend of Augusta University forward Deane Williams in the Jaguars' back-to-back season opening wins at Barton College. 38 points on 15 of 18 field goal shooting (including a poster dunk on the first possession of the season shown here) and 16 rebounds was an eye popping stat line for the 6'8" junior!
Area player: Benedict’s Jelani Watson-Gayle (Westminster ‘17), who scored 23 points in BC’s season opening 86-74 win over Montevallo Friday.
Queens vs North Georgia at Georgia College - 1:30
Area player: Queens’s Daniel Carr (Midland Valley ‘16)
Lander Women vs Carson Newman at USC Aiken - 2:00
Area player: Lander’s Tabitha Dailey (Butler ‘16)
USC Aiken women vs Lincoln Memorial - 4:00
Area players: USC Aiken’s Janae Simpson (Greenbrier ‘15), Lonesha Lee (North Augusta ‘16) and Kwajelin Farrar* (Grovetown ‘16) *likely out due to injury
Lenoir Rhyne vs Francis Marion at Pembroke - 5:00
Area player: Francis Marion's Jaquez Smith (North Augusta '16)
Albany State women at Valdosta State - 6:00 PM
Area player: Albany State's Gemiya Bowman (Laney '16)
NJIT vs Wagner - 6:00
Area player: NJIT’s San Antonio Brinson (Thomson ‘16)
Mars Hill at Limestone - 7:30
Area player - Mars Hill's Justen Hartfield (Greenbrier '16)
Area player: Limestone's TJ Sheppard (North Augusta '13)
*I am still double checking times. And thanks to the people who have been reminding me of names to check for. On that note, I will be populating my calendar (and this post if need be) with the info for the following players:
Don Coleman is the kind of player who will go down swinging if he has to go down. It was a big individual night for Butler's all time leading scorer in Cal's loss to UC Riverside.
Never quit. Bears come up short in the Home Opener. Coleman with a game and career-high 32 points. pic.twitter.com/Yeojd7h5FP
Kevin Williamson (Aiken) left and Daniel Parrish (Aquinas) right
In this post are the following:
1) Preseason top 10 teams with a special focus on the top two teams, #2 Aquinas and #1 Aiken
2) My current schedule for week 1 HS hoops Game of the Day AugBball coverage
AugBball Preseason Top 10 Teams:
#10 Midland Valley (Last season 7-17)
#9 Richmond (23-6, GHSA class AAAA region 3 runner up)
#8 Lakeside (21-5, class AAAAAA region 3 champion)
#7 Butler (18-10, class AA region 4 runner up)
#6 Glenn Hills (16-10)
#5 Laney (25-6, class AA region 4 champion, state playoff quarterfinals)
#4 Baldwin (18-9, class AAAA 3 champion)
#3 North Augusta (20-6, SCHSL class AAAA, region 4 runner up)
#2 Aquinas
Last season: 26-2 GHSA class A region 7 champion Reached quarterfinal in state playoffs in GHSA class A private
The two teams at the top of my preseason top 10, Aiken and Aquinas, have two common traits. Both teams return their best players from undefeated region championship teams that reached the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. And both teams have very tall players at almost every position. I count maybe 8 players 6'3-6'4" and above in the two starting lineups. Both teams are legitimate state title contenders.
Aquinas will open before Aiken when the Fighting Irish play Bishop Loughlin (Brooklyn, NY) and Eagles Landing Christian Academy 14 hours apart in the highly regarded Holiday Hoopsgiving tournament November 24 and 25. The tournament made the USA Today High School Sports list of the top 15 tournaments in the country this season:
Eagles Landing is one of class A private's top 4 teams, as is Aquinas. So coach Darren Douglas's team will be able to measure itself immediately after the season tips off. The addition of Daniel Parrish, a 6'4" senior wing who transferred from South Aiken, will give Aquinas the length to challenge even last season's almost unbelievable 36 points allowed per game mark, which was good for first in the state.
Coach Douglas talked to me at a recent practice about the Holiday Hoopsgiving tournament, the addition of Parrish, and more:
#1 Aiken
Last season: 24-5 SCHSL class AAAA region 4 champion Reached quarterfinal in state playoffs in SCHSL class AAAA
Aiken will not officially get started until the Hornets visit Silver Bluff on November 29. But I saw coach Darris Jackson's squad in a recent scrimmage against Lakeside,and the Hornets looked extremely sharp, and imposing, and experienced.
As you can see, Aiken's deep roster is huge, and productive, at almost every position:
Nazae Baltimore - 6'6" junior - 8 ppg, 7 rpg
Antonio Bussey - 6'7" senior
Kevin Williamson - 6'4" senior - 10 ppg, 4 rpg - All Region
Calvin Mathis - 6'4" senior - 7 ppg, 4 rpg, 2 apg
Jordan Lytes - 6'1" senior - 10 ppg, 4 apg - All Region
Maison Hall - 6'1" junior - 5 ppg, 3 rpg
George Williams - 6'2" junior - team leader in 3s made and 3 pt%
AugBball Game of the Day coverage of the first week of HS hoops
Grovetown at Butler (girls and boys)
Saturday, 11-11 AugBball Bonus Coverage
Butler's Drez McBride (16 ppg, 5 rpg) and Keith Littles (10 ppg, 3 rpg) immediately stepped into leadership roles during the first game of last season, a win over Lakeside.
The senior duo will try to get the Bulldogs off to a good start on the road against a talented bunch at Grovetown. The Warriors are led by senior sharp shooter Eric Graham, who also started last season with a strong offensive showing in a game I featured:
Midland Valley at Aquinas (preseason scrimmage)
Saturday, 11-14 AugBball Game of the Day
Scrimmage or not, I won't miss it when two of the area's best meet in a sort of rare cross border heavy weight matchup. Aquinas's Tre Gomillion, last season's Augusta Chronicle Player of the Year, his teammate Daniel Parrish, and Midland Valley's Anthoney Ray all seem to me like they will be college players next season.
6'4" senior wing Anthoney Ray (Midland Valley) averaged 16 ppg last season.
Augusta Christian vs Lakeside at Greenbrier
Friday, 11-17 AugBball Game of the Day
This Wolfpack Challenge contest, which follows a Greenbrier-Josey which will likely become part of a double-header AugBball Game of the Day, features two of the area's best junior... point guards. That's right. As AC coach Charles Welch tells us in the interview below, the 6'6" 210 pound junior Nate Dunlop, who scored 28 ppg last season, will bring the ball up the court this season. (I like this move a lot.) Dunlop will face highly touted Lakeside lead guard Kalen Williams (16 ppg), also a junior, in this one.
In addition to Friday's Greenbrier-Josey game and Saturday's Greenbrier-Augusta Christian game, I'll try to add more games to the first week's coverage schedule, especially those including Baldwin, Laney, and Evans in this tip off tournament at Evans Friday and Saturday:
By my count, 28 area raised men and women basketball players will play for NCAA Division I and II schools Friday during what is officially the first day of the college basketball season. Here is a list of games, times, players involved, and links to follow the scores, stats, and broadcasts from the games.
Augusta vs Mount Olive at Barton College - 5:30 PM
AugBball Game of the Day
Area players: Augusta's Tamyrik Fields (Hephzibah and Aquinas '14), Kyle Doyle (Josey and Buford '13), and Mac McBride (Alleluia '16)
Area player: Daniel Carr (Midland Valley ‘16) Live stats Video
USC Aiken women vs Carson Newman
Area players: USC Aiken’s Janae Simpson (Greenbrier ‘15), Lonesha Lee (North Augusta ‘16) and Kwajelin Farrar* (Grovetown ‘16) *likely out due to injury Live stats
